WEBVTT

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The shallow, gin-clear waters of the Bahamas
are a tropical paradise a favorite spot

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for sport fishermen and scuba divers alike.

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These waters are also one of the few areas
in the world where humans can regularly spend

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time with dolphins underwater.

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This is where we get the information about
what the life of a wild dolphin is really

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about.

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The Wild Dolphin Project s Research Director
and Founder Dr. Denise Herzing has dedicated

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her career to immersing herself in the dolphins
world.

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In the wild, we deal with all sorts of challenges.

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Number one is weather, if we can't get to
where they live, we can't see them.

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Number two is finding them because they might
move 20-30 miles in a day, and it's a big

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ocean.

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And then spending regular time with
individuals, if you really want to get a sense

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of their society, that's also challenging.

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We're definitely at the mercy of the dolphins.

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They've got interesting lives without us.

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They don't really need to be around us or interact with us.

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So, when they allow us in the water to spend
a little time with them, it's always a great

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privilege.

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Through decades of patient observation and
meticulous photo identification, Denise has

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documented the lives and behaviors of multiple
generations of Atlantic spotted dolphins.

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The group is small, we are dealing with a
hundred animals.

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So, we can get repeatability in different
observations.

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I wanted to understand their society, how
they communicate with each other, individually

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and as a group.

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We tend to think of higher intelligence
involving things like thinking about the future,

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planning, problem solving, abstract concepts...

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Probably the one last thing on the list is
language.

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Dolphins have shown that they can comprehend
in an artificial language, things like word

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order and understanding.

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It doesn't mean they have it in their own
system.

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That still has to be shown - if it exists.

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This is a story about scientific exploration
but it is also a story about friendship.

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The dolphins are like my kids except I don t
have to send them to college.

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Ha, ha.

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It's cheaper that way.

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What can mankind learn from wild dolphins?

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Can we bridge the gap of understanding between
us?